I felt a connection to John Paul II’s letter Salvifici Doloris. I have felt a special calling to help people bring their suffering to the feet of Jesus, so that power of the cross can transform their lives. It seems that even if someone has been schooled in churches teaching on suffering, the only way to believe it and truly understand it is to personally encounter Christ in the mist of suffering. The Pope’s discussion of what suffering is was insightful. I was not aware of the lack of diction in the Old Testament between suffering and evil. This would explain why of the many good quotes about suffering that I can think of; none come from the Old Testament. The discussion about the connection between evil and suffering in the Old Testament
…show more content…
The first assumption is we can be just in God’s eyes. Job understood this after God’s response. Job said “Look, I am of little account; what can I answer you? I put my hand over my mouth”. (Job 40:4) No one truly understands the gravity of their sins and when we feel that we can stand before God on our own merits we are deceived. The other assumption is that if we cannot see the good in suffering then there must not be any. This leads to the next section of Salvifici Doloris, how Jesus brings good out of suffering. The message of salvation is clear; Jesus suffered and dies to save us from Sin. Jesus suffering saved us from Hell an enabled those who repent to gain eternal life. This is an obvious case of God being able to bring the greatest good out of the greatest suffering. If God can give meaning to Jesus’ suffering, then he can give purpose to our suffering. How does Jesus give meaning to our …show more content…
How does Jesus take our sufferings and bring good out of them? Jesus suffered 2000 years ago and I am suffering today. There must be a bond that connects Christ and myself. The church is the bond that connects us. At baptism we are brought into the new and everlasting covenant. We are not adopted into God family. It is the family connections, being part of the body of Christ that connects us to Christ. Saint Paul says "In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ 's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church" (Col 1:24) The mystical unity of the church is a result of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It was his passion that restored man to union with God after the fall of Adam and
The first assumption is we can be just in God’s eyes. Job understood this after God’s response. Job said “Look, I am of little account; what can I answer you? I put my hand over my mouth”. (Job 40:4) No one truly understands the gravity of their sins and when we feel that we can stand before God on our own merits we are deceived. The other assumption is that if we cannot see the good in suffering then there must not be any. This leads to the next section of Salvifici Doloris, how Jesus brings good out of suffering. The message of salvation is clear; Jesus suffered and dies to save us from Sin. Jesus suffering saved us from Hell an enabled those who repent to gain eternal life. This is an obvious case of God being able to bring the greatest good out of the greatest suffering. If God can give meaning to Jesus’ suffering, then he can give purpose to our suffering. How does Jesus give meaning to our …show more content…
How does Jesus take our sufferings and bring good out of them? Jesus suffered 2000 years ago and I am suffering today. There must be a bond that connects Christ and myself. The church is the bond that connects us. At baptism we are brought into the new and everlasting covenant. We are not adopted into God family. It is the family connections, being part of the body of Christ that connects us to Christ. Saint Paul says "In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ 's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church" (Col 1:24) The mystical unity of the church is a result of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It was his passion that restored man to union with God after the fall of Adam and